Need help with building fiber network.

[grauerflug]

Hi,

my house is going to receive a fiber connection in a few weeks/months and i obviously want to use it. But there is a problem. I cant run a cable inside my house, because the room where they are going to install it in has only one door and that is a fire protection door, which has to be fully closed at all times, except while entering or leaving.
So i have to run the cable outside from the ground floor to the 2nd floor or attic( not decided yet), where it needs to be protected from the weather. I probably cant run a copper cable because it has to be right next to a high power line (360V) with old and electrically noisy equipment connected to it. So fiber is probably the only thing that would work.
I have never done anything with fiber let alone outside. I want to do it as best as i can on my first try since going back and fixing it will be difficult.

So it would be great if i could have some suggestion for what hardware (cables, switches, transceivers,...) i could use on budget. I live in the EU, so it would be nice if they were available here.
Thank you in advance.
Love grauerflug.

 

[ttabbal]

If you can, I would run conduit first. That way, you can use it later when you want to add more drops, and trust me, you always do.

You aren't going that far, so you don't need anything too special. How fast do you want to go? The fiber you need differs depending on speed. 10G is pretty simple single pair. 100G needs a multi-strand.

I run 10G, so I'll mention that. You need a switch with SFP+ ports. Ideally, one that isn't picky about transceivers. I like used enterprise gear here, you can get a LOT of switch for a reasonable price. There are a few threads here that give some great options, often available in the EU as well. Enterprise gear tends to be loud because it can be, so if that's an issue make sure there are fan mods that will work without messing up the switch. Or there are threads here with reviews of new gear that is quieter. Power use can be an issue as well.

I use SR fiber, because I don't need to go far and it's cheap. OM3 aqua colored fiber with LR connectors. This is good for anywhere you might run copper. If you need a custom length, fs.com seems pretty good. Matching transceivers are cheap, often <$10.

My NICs are old stuff from ebay as well. Mellanox ConnectX-2s. They work fine for me and will talk to just about anything. I needed Linux support, and these are well supported, even on desktop distros. I stuck a little fan on the heatsink, I don't know that it's required, but it helps keep the heat reasonable. These server cards sometimes rely on the air flow in the case.

 

[blunden]

What kind of speeds are you aiming for? What are your other requirements?

If you want to do it on the cheap, you can find cheap fanless switches from AliExpress with 4 * 2.5GBase-T + 2 * SFP+ ports if all you want is a 10 Gbit/s link and are fine with 2.5 Gbit/s for most devices. There are also cheap 8 port 10G SFP+ switches, but you have to cost of the transceivers you need for each port (unless you can use DAC cables). STH has reviewed a bunch of these, and there are several more discussed here on the forum. I could link a few if you detail how you see the rest of the network being set up.

I personally avoid old enterprise switches since they require active cooling, are loud and tend to have a much higher power draw, which only makes sense if power is cheap where you live. They also tend to be rack mounted, which certainly isn't for everyone. What they do have is a bunch of advanced features that are nice if you have an interest in networking.

When it comes to SFP+ PCI-E network cards, used enterprise cards are great though. The cheapest/oldest cards can be power hungry and generate quite a bit of heat though as they are designed for servers, but you can also find slightly newer models that are more power efficient and still not too expensive. I personally ended up buying a Dell OEM model of the Intel X710-DA2 from eBay US, which ended up costing about €85-90 after the shipping + 25% VAT was added on top. Mellanox ConnectX-3 or ConnectX-4 from eBay are also popular choices.

For SFP+ fiber transceivers, FS.com is good but shipping can be expensive even though they can ship from Germany. You can usually get by with fiber transceivers from brands like 10Gtek (often sold under the Ipolex brand in Europe) or QSFPTEK on Amazon for similar prices but cheap or free shipping.

 

[grauerflug]

What kind of speeds are you aiming for? What are your other requirements?

If you want to do it on the cheap, you can find cheap fanless switches from AliExpress with 4 * 2.5GBase-T + 2 * SFP+ ports if all you want is a 10 Gbit/s link and are fine with 2.5 Gbit/s for most devices. There are also cheap 8 port 10G SFP+ switches, but you have to cost of the transceivers you need for each port (unless you can use DAC cables). STH has reviewed a bunch of these, and there are several more discussed here on the forum. I could link a few if you detail how you see the rest of the network being set up.

I personally avoid old enterprise switches since they require active cooling, are loud and tend to have a much higher power draw, which only makes sense if power is cheap where you live. They also tend to be rack mounted, which certainly isn't for everyone. What they do have is a bunch of advanced features that are nice if you have an interest in networking.

When it comes to SFP+ PCI-E network cards, used enterprise cards are great though. The cheapest/oldest cards can be power hungry and generate quite a bit of heat though as they are designed for servers, but you can also find slightly newer models that are more power efficient and still not too expensive. I personally ended up buying a Dell OEM model of the Intel X710-DA2 from eBay US, which ended up costing about €85-90 after the shipping + 25% VAT was added on top. Mellanox ConnectX-3 or ConnectX-4 from eBay are also popular choices.

For SFP+ fiber transceivers, FS.com is good but shipping can be expensive even though they can ship from Germany. You can usually get by with fiber transceivers from brands like 10Gtek (often sold under the Ipolex brand in Europe) or QSFPTEK on Amazon for similar prices but cheap or free shipping.

My plan for the network is attached to this post as a picture.
10G lines have a note next to them the rest is 2.5G or lower.
Edit: the switch that is connected to the basement should be a router and the other Router will only serve as wifi access point and switch. (Thanks for the reminder Exhaust8890)

 

[Exhaust8890]

You need a router in front of all those devices, not a switch (in the attic).

EDIT: My bad, your diagram makes it looks like the Internet is coming from the basement.

 

[grauerflug]

You need a router in front of all those devices, not a switch (in the attic).

EDIT: My bad, your diagram makes it looks like the Internet is coming from the basement.

You understood that correctly the fiber to the basement is effectively an extension cord from the box the ISP is going to put there. I'll make a note in the post.

 

[blunden]

My plan for the network is attached to this post as a picture.
10G lines have a note next to them the rest is 2.5G or lower.
Edit: the switch that is connected to the basement should be a router and the other Router will only serve as wifi access point and switch. (Thanks for the reminder Exhaust8890)

So you want a router powerful enough to route a 10G internet connection as well?

For the second router, I'd just use a switch plus an AP instead of some combo unit. Besides giving you more (and probably better) options, it makes it easier to upgrade the WiFi in the future.

 

[grauerflug]

So you want a router powerful enough to route a 10G internet connection as well?

For the second router, I'd just use a switch plus an AP instead of some combo unit. Besides giving you more (and probably better) options, it makes it easier to upgrade the WiFi in the future.

The thing is that Router is the one we already own. So id just reuse it. Since it wont be very useful in the attic.

 

[NPS]

The thing I don't get is, why don't you just make the fiber that comes into the house longer to a place where you want to have a router with integrated modem? You should simply be able to passively couple the fibre you plan do lay to the one of the ISP.

 

[grauerflug]

The thing I don't get is, why don't you just make the fiber that comes into the house longer to a place where you want to have a router with integrated modem? You should simply be able to passively couple the fibre you plan do lay to the one of the ISP.

Because it's part of our local governments fiber initiative and they only pay to have it placed in the best point of the house for the company that lays them not us. We don't have anything to say in that matter. Its inside the house what happens from there is not their problem.
Even if we have to run an extension cord outside

 

[NPS]

Yes I know those situations but what I said is: passively connect "their" fiber to "your" fiber and place the modem wherever you want.

 

[grauerflug]

Yes I know those situations but what I said is: passively connect "their" fiber to "your" fiber and place the modem wherever you want.

I could move the modem to the attic, but unless i can put the modem anywhere in the network, which i can't as far as i know. So it would just move to the Router in the attic and I'd still need a fiber cable from the basement to that modem. And im not allowed to put a cable anywhere other than the attic.

 

[NPS]

That's what I thought of. The big difference in my opinion would be that you would only have to buy fiber which is kind of cheap and no active components which are both more expensive to buy and consume energy so cost money over the years.